diff --git a/e-voting-system/backend/routes/admin.py b/e-voting-system/backend/routes/admin.py
index 7f5fc96..4812575 100644
--- a/e-voting-system/backend/routes/admin.py
+++ b/e-voting-system/backend/routes/admin.py
@@ -155,7 +155,11 @@ async def init_election_keys(election_id: int, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
         pubkey_is_invalid = False
         if election.public_key:
             try:
-                pubkey_str = election.public_key.decode('utf-8') if isinstance(election.public_key, bytes) else str(election.public_key)
+                # Public key is stored as base64-encoded bytes, try to decode it
+                pubkey_b64_str = election.public_key.decode('ascii') if isinstance(election.public_key, bytes) else str(election.public_key)
+                # Try to decode the base64 to verify it's valid
+                pubkey_bytes = base64.b64decode(pubkey_b64_str)
+                pubkey_str = pubkey_bytes.decode('utf-8')
                 # Check if it's valid (should be "p:g:h" format, not "pk_ongoing_X")
                 if not ':' in pubkey_str or pubkey_str.startswith('pk_') or pubkey_str.startswith('b\''):
                     pubkey_is_invalid = True
@@ -165,8 +169,8 @@ async def init_election_keys(election_id: int, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
         if not election.public_key or pubkey_is_invalid:
             logger.info(f"Generating ElGamal public key for election {election_id}")
             elgamal = ElGamalEncryption(p=election.elgamal_p or 23, g=election.elgamal_g or 5)
-            # Use the property that returns properly formatted bytes "p:g:h"
-            election.public_key = elgamal.public_key_bytes
+            # Store as base64-encoded bytes (public_key_bytes returns UTF-8 "p:g:h", then encode to base64)
+            election.public_key = base64.b64encode(elgamal.public_key_bytes)
             db.commit()
             logger.info(f"✓ Generated public key for election {election_id}")
         else:
@@ -179,7 +183,7 @@ async def init_election_keys(election_id: int, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
             "elgamal_p": election.elgamal_p,
             "elgamal_g": election.elgamal_g,
             "public_key_generated": True,
-            "public_key": base64.b64encode(election.public_key).decode() if election.public_key else None
+            "public_key": election.public_key.decode('ascii') if isinstance(election.public_key, bytes) else election.public_key
         }
 
     except HTTPException:
diff --git a/e-voting-system/backend/routes/votes.py b/e-voting-system/backend/routes/votes.py
index 2a2e2f0..6bcd533 100644
--- a/e-voting-system/backend/routes/votes.py
+++ b/e-voting-system/backend/routes/votes.py
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ async def setup_election(
         "status": "initialized",
         "election_id": election_id,
         "public_keys": {
-            "elgamal_pubkey": election.public_key.decode('utf-8') if election.public_key else None
+            "elgamal_pubkey": election.public_key.decode('ascii') if isinstance(election.public_key, bytes) else election.public_key
         },
         "blockchain_blocks": blockchain.get_block_count()
     }
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ async def get_public_keys(
         )
 
     return {
-        "elgamal_pubkey": election.public_key.decode('utf-8') if election.public_key else None
+        "elgamal_pubkey": election.public_key.decode('ascii') if isinstance(election.public_key, bytes) else election.public_key
     }